EXCLUSIVE: The New Fisker Car Will Be Autonomous

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We sat down with Henrik Fisker to talk about his new car.

Commotion has been stirring at Fisker Inc. ever since famed Danish designer Henrik Fisker launched the company to restart his efforts to build an electric car. Bit by bit, pictures and information about Fisker’s new car have been emerging depicting a design that appears to be from another planet and breakthroughs in battery technology that, if successful, are sure to elevate the playing field for the EV. We picked up the phone for a chat with Fisker himself to see if we could get any specifics on the new car.

Since the Fisker's graphene batteries that will replace lithium ion units that other EV manufacturers use are on the cutting edge, Fisker was reluctant to divulge any information about that to avoid giving away its edge in the battery arms race. However we do know that the Fisker car will bear some practical similarities to the Tesla Model S. "All of the top performance and top level technology that is needed to compete will be present so of course four-wheel drive and plenty of power.” Given that its closest competitor, the Tesla Model S, ranges between 328 horsepower all the way to a claimed 760 horsepower, expect the Fisker car to find a happy medium for that with the mid 500s likely being the upper ends of the spectrum.

Also pertinent for any Tesla owners on the fence is the fact that the Fisker car will come with optional level 5 autonomous capabilities. Earlier this week, we saw the car’s front end with a trapezoidal hole in the front for a radar sensor. Fisker says that there will be more of these kinds of sensors strewn around the car once autonomy becomes an option. Unlike Tesla, which is working alone to develop full autonomy, Fisker is banking on suppliers like Mobileye and Bosch coming out with usable and competitive systems that can be placed in its car. Although the name of the car remains unknown (likely to be released later this week along with a more descriptive image of the car), we do know that a second smaller vehicle is planned.